Executive Chef Paul Anders discusses the many varieties of Colorado heirloom tomatoes and demonstrates interesting alternatives to feature them on your dinner table.

(970) 476-0125

Wednesday, September 21

Feast of Colorado

Sweet Basil

Cocktails at 7pm, 7:30 to 10:30pm, $95

A special evening features a five course dinner and beverage pairings with “everything Colorado.” Special guests included Lynn and Guy Borden from Borden Farms.

Thursday, September 22

Bacon Dinner

LaTour Restaurant

6 to 10pm, 4 courses for $49

Chef Paul Ferzacca creates a spectacular 4-course Bacon Dinner utilizing award-winning bacon from around the country, pairing it with the freshest produce from last Farmer’s Market of the season.

Tavern on the Square

Ribs and Whiskey

6 to 9pm, $45

The first of three evenings in which a skilled barrel master takes you through four pairings of our favorite whiskeys, which Chef Dodd has paired with ribs.

Friday, September 23

Chef’s Harvest Dinner

Larkspur Restaurant

6:30pm, $55 for four-course dinner and $22 optional wine pairings

Celebrate the harvest with Larkspur’s chef and culinary team. The evening will begin in Larkspur’s garden with a Colorado cocktail and hors d’oeuvres while you enjoy the view of the magnificent Gore Range in all its fall splendor. Dinner follows with a delicious assortment of locally sourced and inventively prepared courses.

Social Club Mixer

Terra Bistro

5 to 6:30pm

Every Friday during Restaurant Month, Terra Bistro will host the public and offer complimentary light hors d’oeuvres.

Market to Table Tasting

West Vail Liquor Mart

4 to 6pm

A special tasting features premier Colorado microbrews, wines and spirits.

Sunday, September 25

Sunday Harvest Dinners

Restaurant Kelly Liken

Three courses for $45

A new menu every week created from the best the Vail farmer’s market has to offer.

Special Vail Farmer’s Market

10am to 3:30pm

Come celebrate the last farmer’s market of the season.

Casa Lapastolle and Belvedere Tomato Vodka Tasting

In the Cellar at Grappa Fine Wines and Spirits

1 to 3pm

A double header for the last Vail Farmer’s Market of the Season! A free tasting of Casa Lapastolle wines and an introductory tasting to Belvedere Tomato Vodka!

Join Flame as we celebrate a week of the best of our local farms with a special farm-to-table menu centered on local producers and sustainable foods. Flame will be featuring a three-course pre-fixe menu for $40 per person. This menu is co-written by Chef Brooke Voskia of Four Seasons Hotel Boston. Chef Voskia will join Chef Jason Harrison of Flame at select dinners to discuss the importance of supporting urban and local farms.

This week only, the Big Bear Bistro will remain open until 7p.m. to offer fresh, seasonal, organic salads and bruschettas. Consider us for a light, healthy dinner option or appetizer before heading to a late night meal or event. The Big Bear Bistro is your choice for affordable dining while still getting the highest quality and freshest ingredients. We serve wine and beer and will offer a special champagne as a lovely accompaniment to your light evening meal. We have casual outside seating and the 5p.m. hour is usually the most beautiful time of day, to sit and relax.

The best kept secret in town, Larkspur’s Bar and Patio open at 5pm daily with Happy Hour specials from 5-7pm. Vail’s locals know Larkspur is not just for fine dining! For rest and refreshment after your day outdoors or for a casual dinner, visit Larkspur’s bar for pizzas, salads, and the famous Larkburger.

Not only does it feel like the French countryside when you walk into The Left Bank Restaurant, but the French being spoken around you makes you feel like you’re in a small town in the French Alps. French cuisine is something decadent, to be savored and enjoyed with every bite and now thanks to the Left Bank, imagine all this “gluten free!” Chef Jean Michel will present a menu that is “Heart Smart” and delicious. Celebrating 40 years of service, The Left Bank Restaurant is proud to establish a standard and continue to meet it.

Every night during Vail Restaurant Month, the legendary Terra Bistro offers a three-course “Chef’s Selection” menu for $39 per person. Enjoy your choice of selected appetizers, a salad, and choice of selected main courses for only $39

Summer is still lingering for a couple more weeks. And despite cooling temperatures, Labor Day Weekend in Vail promises to be spectacular.

The 17th Annual Jazz Party features world-renown acts in two intimate Lionshead locations (Vail Square and the Marriott Grand Ballroom) as well as late night jam sessions! See the schedule below. The festival begins Thursday with a free show by the Clayton Brothers Quintet at Vail Square.

Frogs Gone Fishing will play the final Friday Afternoon Club of the season on September 2.

Also slotted for the holiday is the ever-growing Gourmet on Gore. Sponsored by Stella Artois, Moet & Chandon, and Pellegrino, this town-wide collection of Vail’s best restaurants will showcase delicious pairings of food, wine, beer or spirits. Admission is free; food is not. The event starts at 11am on Saturday and Sunday. Last call is at 5:45pm, with the event officially closing at 6pm. Monday’s hours of operation are abbreviated, 10am to 2pm. There will be live music throughout the village as well as executive chefs, sommeliers and spirit masters discussing their products.

On Thursday, September 8, Dr. Coen Wijdicks, Dr. David Karli and Dr. Rick Cunningham will lecture on recent breakthroughs in sports medicine, part of the Vail Symposium Program’s Health and Wellness Series. Doors open at 5:30pm. Admission is $37; for Vail Symposium donors, it’s $27. The title of this week’s program is “Keeping the Body Healthy for Life.”

Tickets: Tickets are available for purchase at the door of each concert. Costs are $55 for morning and afternoon events; $65 for evening events. Patron Passes cost $350 and include preferred seating at all performances, a Friday cocktail party, and Saturday dinner with the artists. Presold ticket holders must check in at the Vail Jazz registration table at the show venue, which will be open one hour before each show. All ticket sales are final. To purchase 10 tickets or more, contact 888-824-5526.

Venue: All evening performances will be held in the Marriott Grand Ballroom. Daytime performances will be held in the tent at Vail Square in the Arrabelle. Late night jam sessions will be held on the second floor of the Marriott in Wing’s Place.

Transportation: Contact the Vail Jazz Foundation directly at (888) 824-5526 or use the link (vailjazz.org>Vail Jazz Festival>Labor Day Weeken) to get 10% off CME shuttle service. The Marriott is offering $8 valet parking.

Colorado.com, the official site of Colorado Tourism, has all the basic travel tips for coming to the High Rockies. Here are a couple of helpful ones for the summertime:

Colorado is the highest-altitude state in the U.S. Drink more water than usual, moderate alcohol and tobacco intake, and, if possible, spend a night in the intermediate-elevation Front Range (Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, or Colorado Springs) or Western Slope (Grand Junction, Fruita, or the Four Corners region) before coming up to Vail. Also, always wear sunscreen and reapply diligently!

Weather changes rapidly here. Dress in layers! It will be cool in the mornings and evenings (mid 40s to high 50s) and then warm during the day (anywhere from low 70s to high 80s). Also, it is currently monsoon season, which means afternoon thunderstorms roll an hour or two after lunchtime. They rarely last very long, but raingear is recommended.

*Staff suggestion: Please know that most properties in the High Rockies do not have air conditioning! Due to the dry climate and high altitude, it is rarely necessary. We recommend leaving your windows open throughout the day and evening (with exception to the afternoon thunderstorms). It will circulate air through your condo and keep it cool.

Top of the Rockies (115 miles) takes you from Leadville, the highest incorporated town in America at 10,430 feet, down Fremont Pass. Follow Hwy 24 down Tennessee Pass to Minturn. Then bear right on Hwy 92 toward Twin Likes before going over Independence Pass and into Aspen.

Independence Pass (27 miles) is an abbreviated version of the drive explained above, but classic nonetheless. It’s full of old mining ruins, alpine tundra, and glaciers.

Trail Ridge Road (47 miles) goes over the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of the best places to see moose and elk. Highlights include Milner Pass and the tiny town of Grand Lake at the west entrance.

Peak to Peak Hwy (55 miles) runs south to north from I-70 outside of Denver up to Estes Park, at the east entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. Along the way it passes small mining and bohemian towns alike and showcases extraordinary high country scenery, including views of 14,255-foot Longs Peak.

Highway of Legends (110 miles) starts in the southern Colorado town of Trinidad and takes Hwy 12 through Cokedale, passing 300 coke ovens en route over Cucharas Pass as well as the extinct volcanoes, Spanish Peaks.

Santa Fe Trail (188 miles each way) is a long, historic route through southeastern Colorado (again leaving from the Trinidad area) that cross into Kansas. Take Hwy 350 to La Junta, driving through expansive grasslands and ranches. The out-and-back’s highlights include Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, Iron Spring and Picketwire Dinosaur Tracksite.

*Staff pick for driving tour (not on list above): Shrine Pass. From Vail, take I-70 east towards Denver. Get off at exit 190. Merge onto the dirt road south of the highway, following signs for Shrine Pass. There is a 4.6-mile round-trip hike that tours wildflowers on the way up to Shrine Mountain Crags. The scenery at the top is similar to Vail Mountain’s back bowls, but significantly untouched. Hike or not, continue on the 4WD road as it winds through White River National Forest with views of Mount of the Holy Cross. The dirt road brings you into the small town of Red Cliff. Head through town, then turn right on Hwy 24 and drive through Minturn. Merge onto I-70 east to come back to Vail.

The New York Philharmonic closes out their yearly visit to the Vail Valley this Friday with a performance of New York, Paris & All the Jazz. The first part of the show will be a Salute to Broadway, followed by Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major and Gershwin’s Catfish Row Suite from Porgy and Bess. As usual the symphony begins at 6pm at the Ford Amphitheater.

The morning before the Philharmonic, Maria DeSimone hosts Yoga in the Gardens at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. Every Monday and Friday from 9am to 10:15am, join DeSimone and a small group of yoginis for only $12 per session.

Uncle Knuckle, a six-piece funk band, will play at Friday Afternoon Club at the top of Vail Mountain at 4pm. Wes Yoakam will play the first of three nights at the Club in Vail Village. DJ Ginger and Styles Davis are going to spin at Samana at 9pm Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The second-to-last installment of the Vail Recreation District mountain bike racing series hits Eagle next Wednesday . The Boneyard Brawl begins at 5pm. Riders will climb up Bellyache Road, then come down East Eagle Trail singletrack. Loop distances vary from 6.5 to 16.5 miles.